As the car pulled away from the club entrance, Gu Xi breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She opened her phone and sent Fang Pingping a message to let her know she was safe—earlier, they’d agreed that if she didn’t hear from Gu Xi within twenty minutes, she should call the police. Now there was no need.
The drive was silent. Half an hour later, the car stopped in front of a hotel.
The man walked ahead. Gu Xi hesitated for a few seconds before getting out too. The man in the passenger seat had already exited first. Bai Shulin spoke coldly, “Get her a room.”
The man paused, then nodded in acknowledgment.
Gu Xi watched Bai Shulin walk off without waiting for her. She glanced at the man booking the room at the counter, thought for a moment, and decided to wait for her own key card.
The man finished quickly and swiped Gu Xi’s card as they went upstairs together. After seeing her to her door, he knocked on the room next door.
Gu Xi didn’t think much of it. Fortunately, she’d brought her ID and wallet when she left—there wasn’t much at the hotel near the film set anyway, and she didn’t plan on going back. With that in mind, she booked a high-speed train ticket for ten the next morning.
After that, she went to the bathroom to wash up. Just as she came out, there was a knock at the door. She opened it to find Bai Shulin’s assistant, Fang Qi, standing there. He handed her a set of pajamas and some snacks, smiling. “Miss Gu, the flight is at 9:30 tomorrow morning. Remember to set an alarm.”
Gu Xi took them and said thank you.
She wasn’t sure what to feel. She couldn’t help glancing at the room next door as she closed the door.
The pajamas were a pink velvet nightgown. Assistant Fang had been efficient—they seemed washed and dried, carrying a faint, pleasant scent. Gu Xi changed into them in the bathroom. They fit well enough, though the lace neckline was a bit low, exposing a large expanse of skin.
She was tired today and went to bed early, playing on her phone for a while before falling asleep.
But this sleep felt strange.
Gu Xi felt like she was dreaming—she must be dreaming—but the dream felt incredibly real.
She stood in a simply furnished room. It was small, maybe only a few square meters, with a wooden bed just over a meter wide, a desk by the window, and a floor-to-ceiling wooden cabinet. The wall beside the desk was covered in awards. Normally, in dreams, you couldn’t see things this clearly, but Gu Xi could make out every word on the certificates: “Merit Student,” “First Place in Chinese,” “First Place in Math”… and the name: Bai Shulin.
While she was still stunned, the sound of things crashing and banging came from outside, accompanied by cursing. “You little bastard born of that slut—I’ve been feeding you too well, waiting on the old one and then the young one…”
“Don’t think your father will protect you. You’re as disgusting as your mother. Look what you did to my eldest grandson! Your father came from me—what’s his is mine, and it’ll all be my eldest grandson’s someday. So what if I took one of your watches? That’s mine too…”
Someone interrupted her, whining, “Grandma, it hurts.”
The old woman’s voice immediately softened. “Oh, my poor grandson! Grandma will take you out for something good. Let him kneel right there—his father isn’t coming back tonight, so he can kneel all night.”
“Let’s go, let’s go. Grandma has money—I’ll buy you some braised pork.”
“I want roast duck too.”
“Anything you want, Grandma will buy.”
After a while, the noise outside quieted down, but voices drifted in from the window, growing fainter.
Gu Xi frowned. After a moment’s hesitation, she pushed open the door and stepped out. The outside wasn’t much bigger—a small living room with a square table and a few stools, and two red thermoses with chipped paint on the table. Near the entrance was a two-seater fabric sofa, across from a bulky old TV. Above it hung a vintage clock, ticking away.
Her gaze landed on a teenage boy kneeling beside the sofa. He had a buzz cut and was facing the wall. From her angle, she could see the striking outline of his profile.
The boy wore a blue plaid short-sleeve shirt and gray pants. There was a black footprint on the back of the shirt, as if someone had kicked him hard.
Just as she looked over, he propped himself up on the sofa and stood. He must have been kneeling for a while, because he stood still for a moment before slowly moving to sit on the edge of the sofa.
Sensing something, he suddenly turned toward her. Seeing Gu Xi, he froze, then frowned. In the hoarse voice of adolescence, he asked warily, “Who are you? Why did you come out of my room?”
Though the boy before her was young and unpolished, his familiar features made her recognize him.
Gu Xi hadn’t expected to see Bai Shulin as a teenager in a dream. The feeling was strange—he looked so much younger here, with clear, calm dark eyes that lacked the later coldness and detachment.
She opened her mouth to explain, but his stomach growled loudly. The boy seemed embarrassed and glanced at her sheepishly.
Gu Xi had never seen this side of Bai Shulin before. She found it intriguing and couldn’t help staring. “Are you hungry?”
The boy scratched his head. “I haven’t eaten all day.”
Then, as if remembering something, he immediately grew wary again. “Who are you, anyway? Why were you in my room?”
Gu Xi wanted to say it was just a dream, but he probably wouldn’t believe her. She shook her head instead. “I don’t know either. I fell asleep and woke up in your room.”
The boy hadn’t expected that answer. He frowned and studied her, noticing for the first time how beautiful she was—prettier than any girl he’d ever seen. She seemed a few years older than him, with skin as pale as snow, striking features on a delicate face, light-colored long hair, and the pink nightgown that made her look luminous and ethereal.
He couldn’t help asking, “Then… are you even human?”
“Yes.”
The boy nodded and didn’t ask further. His knees no longer hurt as much, so he stood up and went to the kitchen. There wasn’t much food—just two potatoes, a few eggs and tomatoes, and a piece of meat locked in a cabinet.
But the lock meant nothing to him. He went back to his room, grabbed a small knife, pried the lock open, cut off a small piece of meat, put the rest back, and reattached the lock.
The whole motion was smooth and practiced—clearly not his first time.
Gu Xi watched curiously, surprised he was about to cook. In her memory, Bai Shulin didn’t know how to cook—unlike Bai Yuzhou, who was quite skilled in the kitchen. Whenever Gu Xi was upset, Bai Yuzhou would make her favorite dishes. Later, when Bai Shulin found out, she ended up tasting his cooking.
How to describe it? Even after being reborn, she couldn’t forget how awful it tasted.
Gu Xi didn’t enjoy cooking either, but she could usually follow online videos and make something passable. After getting together with Bai Shulin, she’d actually learned a few dishes herself.
Sure enough, she watched the boy cut potato shreds as thick as his fingers.
“When are your grandma and the others coming back?”
“Not sure. Probably in about an hour.”
Gu Xi nodded. Maybe because of the help he’d given her earlier, or maybe because this was just a dream, she uncharacteristically offered, “Let me do it. You go cook the rice.”
The boy seemed a bit embarrassed again, but he handed her the knife and obediently went to start the rice.
Facing this somewhat shy Bai Shulin, Gu Xi felt her heart soften. So this was what he’d been like as a teenager.
The potato shreds Gu Xi cut weren’t particularly thin either, but they looked much better than his. She rinsed them in water, crushed some garlic, turned on the stove, and added oil—the whole process went fairly smoothly.
Soon the kitchen filled with a fragrant aroma. Gu Xi only made simple stir-fried potato shreds and tomato meat soup. The boy must have been in a growth spurt, because he had a huge appetite—he ate the entire pot of rice and both dishes.
Gu Xi didn’t eat—she wasn’t hungry. She sat on the sofa and watched TV.
After finishing his meal, Bai Shulin washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen, restoring everything to roughly how it had been.
Gu Xi watched and didn’t quite understand why he was so cautious. She didn’t know much about his childhood. In her past life, they’d rarely spent time together privately, and he never talked about his past—though even if he had, she wouldn’t have been interested in listening.
The boy went to his room and came back with a basketball. He walked over to the sofa and asked, “I’m going to play basketball. Do you want to come?”
Gu Xi saw that it was getting dark, but since this was just a dream, she figured it didn’t matter, and nodded.
Stepping outside the yard, she noticed a row of low red-brick houses. Remembering Grandpa Bai’s military background, this must have been the family housing he’d once mentioned.
Bai Shulin led her to the basketball court behind the school. It was nearly dark, and only a few people were there. He had a whole court to himself.
The boy was tall and lean, his skin not as pale as it would later become, but a healthy tan. He ran across the court, occasionally showing a glimpse of his lean, toned waist. Sometimes he’d glance over at her, and when he saw she was still there, he’d start playing again.
Gu Xi had never seen Bai Shulin so lively and full of energy. In her memories, he was always cold and distant, as if nothing and no one could ever reach him.
She suddenly felt curious—how did he become the person he was later?
Darkness fell quickly. The other two people on the court left too, leaving only one streetlamp glowing dimly. The dream felt incredibly real—even mosquitoes were biting.
The boy was probably tired, or maybe bored. He dribbled the ball over to her and sat down beside her, asking quietly, “Will you leave?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.” Probably when the dream ends.
The boy fell silent. They sat together for a long time. Only when it was very late did Bai Shulin finally stand up, ball in hand, and say they should go back. When they reached the house, he went straight to his bedroom window with practiced ease. It wouldn’t open—someone had locked it from the inside. He wasn’t surprised. He pulled out a small knife he’d prepared earlier and patiently picked the lock.
The sky was full of stars, and the moon was so bright it clearly illuminated his determined profile and tightly pressed lips. For a moment, she seemed to see the man he would become—steady, restrained, and deep.
“Click”—the window lock gave way. He climbed up and swung himself over, then reached his hand back down to her. Gu Xi placed her hand in his. His large palm was hot and sweaty. The boy paused, then tightened his grip and pulled her up and through the window with him.
“Wait here a moment. I’m going to take a shower.”
“Okay.”
Gu Xi watched him carefully open the door and slip out. She felt an urge to laugh, but also a strange ache. She hadn’t expected his situation in the dream to be so bleak—even taking a shower in his own home, he had to fear being discovered.
With that thought, she walked over to the desk and noticed a family photo on it. She froze. She’d seen this picture at Grandpa Bai’s house before, though it was slightly different—the face of the man in the military uniform in this one had been scratched out with a knife.
Footsteps approached from outside. Gu Xi was about to put the photo down when a ringing sound suddenly filled her ears.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself lying in the hotel bed, her phone alarm blaring. The dream had felt so real that it took her a long time to recover.
After lying there for a while, she got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face. Rolling up her sleeves, she noticed two red bumps on her arm—itchy.
She froze on the spot.